And there’s the season done. A bit surprised that it only took the first two episodes on the disc to finish up the sudden plot, but I guess I should have seen that the actual series was only 24 episodes and the last two were DVD-only specials. Perfectly fine with that though, the finale was nicely done, making good use of the core group and keeping it moving along with the requisite action, melodrama, and touches of humor. The specials though, man, those are easily in the top 5 episodes through the season, an absolutely fantastic pair of episodes that give Urd and Skuld experiences they’ll never forget.

While it took me the better part of the season to get to material I hadn’t come across before, seeing it all come to life (and then some) was quite the enjoyable affair, and I’m looking forward to my time with the second season when I come to it. While it has never been as mind-blowing as Ghost in the Shell, or as exciting as Gurren Lagann, Ah! My Goddess has always had a powerful ability to capture the imagination, whatever its incarnation. As sappy as it is, the series is fueled by a pure and honest love, which it stays true to throughout, and it just works incredibly well. In a sense, its similar to another favorite of mine, ARIA, which is just as pure and full of love as Ah! My Goddess, but where Ah! My Goddess is about the love between two people, ARIA is about love for (and wonder at) everything in the world around you. Yes, I can respect this sort of thing, I’m not a completely heartless bastard.

So yes, you might say I’m looking forward to the second season. I think I’ll let it sit for a bit though, working my way through a different chunk of the backlog so I don’t run out of it so quickly. I just hope that once that’s done, I’m not at a point where I can’t not buy the manga, as there’s too fucking many volumes -_-;